Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com

I was in favor of going to Kevin Kolb, but that doesn't mean there's a 12-win season waiting to happen. There's likely to be growing pain, maybe with a Mike Vick replacement game or two.

Before you start going crazy, King fully admits that his rankings should not be taken too seriously. My guess is he'd skip this column if it were up to him, but fans, readers (and bloggers) love arguing over these rankings as they try to kill time over the next couple of months.

In the NFC East, King has the Giants at No. 9 and the Cowboys at No. 10, but he doesn't discount the possibility of the Eagles winning the division:

Pick a team out of the hat in this division. In the last six years, the NFC East champs, in order, have been Philadelphia, New York, Philadelphia, Dallas, New York and Dallas. The Giants have spent so much money and draft currency on the defensive line, and it simply has to be better or the natives rightfully will be able to wonder if Jerry Reese knows how to build a team, or did he just catch lightning in a bottle in his first year, the Super Bowl year. The offense will score enough, that I know. What it comes down to for the Giants is the defensive investment being smart enough, and I say it will.

The other teams he has ranked ahead of the Eagles are: the Packers (1), Saints (5), Panthers (8), Seahawks (11) and Vikings (13). Donovan McNabb's Redskins are 20th.

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* Earlier in the offseason, I wrote about how rare it is for a rookie pass rusher to have an instant impact. NFL.com's Pat Kirwan tackled the topic recently also:

I'm not here to rain on the draft parade, but if your team selected a pass rusher in the top two rounds, and is about to spend the big bucks to sign him, don't expect your money's worth right away. Be realistically happy if your new addition is active for 16 games, records 30 tackles, four sacks and a forced fumble. That would make him above average for a rookie.

Sheil Kapadia is in his fifth season writing about the Eagles and the NFL for philly.com. His earliest
memories as a sports fan include several trips to Veterans Stadium with
his Dad. He's not a beat writer or an Insider, but is here to
discuss the NFL 365 days a year. E-mail him at skapadia@philly.com or
by clicking here